2176
by He Was Incredible
Summary: Lily Smith, a teenage girl, is told about the Crystal Gems' ancient temple by her great great great great grandmother. She sets off to go to it and find out what remains of the group who liberated all of gem-kind over a hundred years ago. Only... she finds a surprise waiting for her. Perhaps the Crystal Gems aren't as... history as everybody says. Set about 150 years after canon
1. The Beach House

"The current date is August fifth, Twenty One Seventy Six," a hooded figure spoke into a tape recorder as she walked down a beach. It was quite foggy out; she could only see about 10-20 feet in front of her. "My name is Lily Smith. I'm currently on my way to a temple that my great great great great grandma told me about. She said that it resides in a place that was once called 'Beach City', although the 'city' part is no longer there, as it got destroyed in the battle that freed all of gem-kind." She pressed a button to stop the recording, then sliding the tape recorder into her pocket. She let out a deep sigh, stopping and pulling out her phone. "I feel... lost," she muttered to herself sorely. "Maybe I should call my dad and-" she trailed off as she noticed the lack of bars at the top of her phone screen "no signal!?" she shouted, then groaning and falling onto her knees.

Just when Lily lost all hope of finding the temple, she noticed something to her right: a sign! She hopped off of her knees, brushing the sand off of them, then ran toward it, looking at it to see what was written. "Welcome to Beach City!" she read aloud, "population: 126." She grinned, pumping her fist, then taking off down the coastline. She noticed some destroyed housing off to her right, just beyond the fog. "This must've been where Beach City was!" she remarked as she ran down the coast. "But if this is the city, then where is the temp-" she stopped as a huge, unnatural-looking hill came into sight. She gasped, "I remember grandma telling me about this!" she said excitedly, then taking off running again. In no time, she reached the other side of the hill: "Just as I thought," she said, looking up at the huge statue of which her grandma referred to as "the Temple Fusion."

"Hm... it looks like there's a house at the base of the temple," Lily remarked as she stared between two of the Temple Fusion's many hands, "I wonder if anyone still lives in it." She slowly made her way over to the house, which, in contrast to all of the other houses within Beach City, was still perfectly intact. She made her way up the wooden steps, each one of them creaking on a varying degree of loudness as she made her way up toward the porch. Surely, if anybody still lived here, her presence would be known by now. When she arrived on the porch, she immediately strided over to one of the windows and looked in. Everything seemed to be kept tidy: the couch was made, the floor was clean, among many other things. Something caught her eye though: the strange, glowing door all the way on the other side of the house that was surrounded by crystals. She would've loved to get a closer look, but it was inside of a home which was obviously still being lived in...

Too bad she didn't care.

"Don't mind if I do," Lily giggled as she let herself inside of the house. The door, conveniently, wasn't locked, so she didn't have to end up breaking a window like she originally planned. She ran toward the mysterious door, stopping on the warp pad before it so that she could admire how beautiful it was. "This must be, like... some ancient gem technology," she mumbled in amazement. She took a few steps toward the door, then running her hand down it, feeling the blue, red, pink, white, and purple gems that were embedded in it. "I wonder how it's activated..." she said. She then turned around and looked at the interior of the house: some stand-out things were a framed picture of two humans seemingly getting married, another framed picture of about twelve humans, all ranging in ages, and a large painting of six gems and two humans that sat just above the door that she entered the home through. The painting caught her attention the most. "I feel like... I recognize them," Lily said, taking slow steps toward the painting. "It must be..." she thought for a moment, the answer striking her very suddenly: "the saviors of earth!" she gasped. "Wait, does that mean that I just broke into the home of..." she went wide-eyed, then turning around and looking at the ancient gem door again. All of a sudden, it all made sense to her: this wasn't just any ordinary person's house; it was the home of-!

The warp pad suddenly chimed, covering every wall with light.

"I need to hide," Lily said to herself. She quickly ran down a hallway and into the bathroom, closing the door gently behind her. She hopped into the bathtub and got as low as possible. The chime of the warp pad stopped just as she got into place, and she then heard the sound of a pair of feet hitting the floor beyond the bathroom door. Suddenly, the foot steps stopped, and Lily felt herself wince.

"Why is..." a mysterious voice started, "why is the front door open?"

Lily started to hyperventilate, but she covered her mouth in fear of this mysterious person hearing her. She then heard the sound of a sword being pulled from a scabbard; a sound she knew all too well considering she was currently being taught how to sword fight by her father.

"Who's there?" the mysterious voice questioned, without a hint of fear in their voice.

Lily suddenly heard footsteps growing closer to the bathroom door, stopping just before it.

"Hello?" the voice called from just beyond the door.

Lily was thinking of a million possible ways that she could get out of the current situation, only for her line of thought to get cut off as the door flung open and light flooded into the room. She felt herself get aggressively pulled up by the back of her sweatshirt, then thrown belly down onto the bathroom floor.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you not to go breaking into people's houses!?" the voice shouted.

"I-I'm sorry miss- er... mister? It won't happen again, I swear!" Lily pleaded.

"That's what they all say," the voice groaned. Lily heard the person pacing back and forth in frustration. "Why are you here, anyways? I don't have anything to steal!" the voice said, scolding Lily. "And get off of the floor and look me in the eyes, kid!"

Lily was quick to scramble back up onto her feet, but she kept her face tilted toward the ground. She felt the person grab her chin, push it up, then pull her hood off of her head.

"Now-" the person started, but they stopped abruptly as their eyes met Lily's.

Lily knew exactly why they stopped talking. She pulled her hood back up and looked downward.

"You're half gem, aren't you?" the person asked.

Lily nodded, feeling her cheeks flush.

"I'd recognize that type of gem anywhere," the person chuckled, "your mother was an aquamarine, right?"

Lily nodded once more, feeling her cheeks flush even more.

"What's your name?" the person asked calmly.

"Lily Aqua Smith, miss... mister?"

The person chuckled, "I knew it. There's only one person I know of who has an aquamarine for a left eye."

The person pushed Lily's chin up again, angling her eye toward their naval. Lily took notice of the pink gem that was embedded atop it.

"You're-!" Lily started.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I just realized that I never introduced myself," the person chuckled. "I'm Stevonnie Universe. I'm your great great great great great grandpa-grandma. I'm neither a miss or a mister, by the way."


	2. Kids!

Lily heard the pitter-pattering of rain on the house as she sat in front of a coffee table.

"So," Stevonnie started, standing at the stove and making tea. They blew hair out of their face, then turning off the flame under the kettle. "how old are you?"

"Fifteen," Lily replied, watching as the fusion grabbed two mugs and poured tea into them. "If you don't mind me asking; how old are you?"

Stevonnie put a hand up to their chin, scratching their stubble. "Depends on whether you're asking me, Steven, or Connie," they answered, "because, well, I was formed for the first time when my components were pre-teens." The fusion walked over to the coffee table, taking a seat next to Lily and handing her a mug. "Me though..." they did math in their head for a few seconds, then coming up with their answer, "I'm one hundred and seventy four years old."

Lily nearly dropped her mug. She looked up at Stevonnie, wide-eyed. "Whoa... you're, like, super, super old!"

"And yet I don't look a day older than thirty, do I?" Stevonnie grinned, winking.

Lily supposed that the fusion was right; they literally did not look any older than thirty. Unlike all of her other grandmas and grandpas, they had no visible grey hairs nor wrinkles. Well, all of her other grandmas and grandpas except her great great great great grandma... who also happened to have pink skin and look like a teenager... she decided not to think too hard about it.

"I get that you're my great great great great great grandma-grandpa and all, but... why don't you look like..." Lily hesitated, then pointing toward Stevonnie's dark brown hair, "a grandma-grandpa?"

The fusion chuckled, wrapping an arm around Lily. "You know how gems don't age, right?"

Lily nodded. She'd been around gems for her whole life; she actually lives with two of them.

"Well," Stevonnie continued, pointing toward the gem on their own naval, "I happen to be able to control my physical appearance. I can age however much I feel like! Well, at least Steven can. Connie just doesn't age because she's been me for so long."

"Wait... does that mean that I, also, can control my physical appearance?" Lily asked, starry eyed.

"Probably! I dunno," Stevonnie replied. They raised their arms above their head and stretched, then sighing and taking a sip from their mug. Their eyes suddenly went wide; "Hey, I should introduce you to Lion!" they said, smiling, "Lion! Get down here, you fuzzball!"

Lily looked up, watching as the head of a pink lion peeked down from the loft. The lion then jumped into the air, landing right in front of the coffee table.

"There you are!" Stevonnie said, then setting their mug down. They stood up, walking over to Lion and petting him behind the ear.

"Oh! Your pet lion," Lily said, also standing up to pet the beast. "He was mentioned in a book I read about the history of the Crystal Gems."

"You hear that, Lion?" Stevonnie asked, "you're famous."

The fusion received a grunt from the creature in response.

Stevonnie looked over to Lily, noticing that the teenager seemed lost in thought as she pet the creature. "What you thinking about, kid?" they asked.

"Oh! Uh... something just clicked in my head," Lily said, then looking Stevonnie in the eyes, "are you the reason that my great great great great grandma is pink?"

Stevonnie's trademark grin faded at the question. "Oh, Stephanie? My first daughter?"

Lily nodded, remembering the time a few years ago that she had asked her grandma about her pink color, only to receive no answer.

"Heh..." Stevonnie let out a fake laugh, "yeah, I am..." they put a hand to their forehead and rubbed it, obviously stressed about the subject. "It happened over a hundred years ago though..."

"Why... is she pink?" Lily asked, hesitating slightly. She noticed how the mood in the room had suddenly changed; shifting from a happy, friendly vibe to a sad one.

"I..." Stevonnie started, then looking toward a specific picture of Connie holding a baby that hung above the couch. Lily assumed the baby was grandma Stephanie. "I don't really want to talk about it, but... I'll at least tell you that people and animals turn pink after I bring them back from the dead using my healing tears."

Lily put a hand to her chin. "So... you have the power to bring people and animals back to life, but at the cost that they turn pink?" she asked, spotting a pink, one-eyed cat walking on top of the counter across the room. She decided against asking about it.

"Yeah," Stevonnie responded, "apparently pink zombies live forever, also. Lion here is about four hundred years old." The fusion scratched under Lion's chin. "Oh yeah; for some reason, pink zombies can also do this!" They proceeded to reach into Lion's mane, the spot their arm was reaching into glowing. "They all have a pocket dimension inside of them that things can be stored inside," they said as they moved their arm around a little, then grabbing something and pulling it out: it was a framed picture of three people. "Aw man, it's been a while since I've looked at this."

Lily looked at what was in the picture. It seemed to be a picture of Stevonnie's two components, Steven and Connie, sitting at the beach with what looked like her great great great great grandma, who was a non-pink teenager.

"Wow, it feels so... weird seeing grandma as a color other than pink," Lily remarked, chuckling slightly.

"It's just as weird for me, kid," Stevonnie sighed, then sticking the picture back into Lion's mane. The fusion sat back down on the couch, quickly being followed by Lily. "Sometimes I wish I could go back to those days: taking care of just one child... living the simple life..." the fusion said as they looked at all of the pictures that lined the walls of their home.

"Just one child?" Lily asked, confused, "I thought that grandma Stephanie was your only child?"

Stevonnie looked surprised by her question. "Stephanie never told you about her brothers and sisters?"

"She almost never talks," Lily said, letting out a nervous chuckle. "Telling me about this temple was the first time she talked to me in about a year."

Stevonnie let out a long, stress-filled sigh, then looking Lily in the eye. "I'm taking care of five kids currently. Four are off at boxing practice right now, but they'll be home very, very shortly. The other one is in the other room napping: he's only eight months old," Stevonnie said, then looking down at their stomach, "it'll be six kids very soon though..."

"Oh! Congratulations," Lily said once she realized the implication of Stevonnie's last line. "Is that all? Just my grandma and those five?"

Stevonnie burst out laughing at the teenager's question. While wiping tears from their eyes, they pointed toward a huge picture that hung in the kitchen. It had somewhere around sixty people in it; all having dark brown hair and a skin tone that ranged from white to a light brown. Everyone's ages ranged from only being a few years old to being around eighty or even older (None of them necessarily looked that old though. It was probably something to do with how they were all 1/4 gem.)

"Holy..." Lily said, her mouth falling open.

"That's from a Universe family reunion I held about ten years ago," Stevonnie said through giggles, "I guess you could say that Steven and Connie really like children." Still giggling, they leaned in really close to Lily's face: "Take a guess as to what the one thing that I unfuse for is."

"Gross!" Lily yelled, playfully pushing Stevonnie's face away as she started laughing herself.

Their laughs were interrupted by the warp pad chiming, lighting up the room for a few seconds before five people appeared. Stevonnie hopped up, outstretching their arms. "Kids!" they shouted, running and hugging four kids at once. One of the kids looked about seven, another one nine, another one thirteen, and the last one sixteen.

"Where's my hug?" Garnet asked, chuckling before Stevonnie hugged her also.


	3. The Past is the Past

"Are you sure you're going to be okay just sleeping on the couch?" Stevonnie asked as they fluffed a pillow, "I could just take the couch and you could sleep on my bed."

Lily glanced at the picture of all of Stevonnie's sons and daughters that hung in the kitchen, feeling a shiver go down her spine. "I think I'll be okay," she responded, having been given the infamous "talk" by her father already, and knowing full well how many times the procedure must've been performed on their bed. "Thanks for the offer though."

"If you insist," Stevonnie shrugged. "Lift your head for a second, kiddo."

Lily did as told, then feeling the pillow that the fusion was fluffing be placed under their head.

"Goodnight and sweet dreams," Stevonnie said with a smile, turning off the lamp that was on the coffee table. "And please..." they started, their grin being replaced with a look of annoyance, "don't go snooping around my home anymore."

"S-sorry..." Lily muttered, her cheeks flushing. She hadn't really thought about how she was only in this situation currently because she'd broken into the fusion's home.

"If you need to go to the bathroom tonight, you already know where to go," Stevonnie chuckled, then turning around and starting to walk toward the hallway leading to their children's rooms.

"Wait!" Lily shouted, making Stevonnie stop. The fusion looked over their shoulder and into the girl's one eye. "Uh... why... why do you always stay fused? S-sorry if that question is insensitive..."

After processing the girl's question for a few seconds, Stevonnie burst out laughing.

Lily suddenly started to feel embarrassed about her question, feeling her cheeks quickly beginning to heat up. "J-just forget it, I shouldn't have ask-"

"Because Steven and Connie love each other! They always will. It feels amazing to be me... to- to share the same mind. I-" Stevonnie looked down at their hands, seeing the wedding rings on one finger of each hand. "I haven't always been like this, and I unfuse occasionally, but I... Steven and Connie just really want to stay as me for a long time. Maybe not forever, but... a long time." They laughed, "remind me tomorrow and maybe I'll unfuse for you. I'm sure Steven and Connie would love to meet their great great great great great grandchild."

"O-okay, uhm..." Lily nervously chuckled, "I've just been wondering that. I-I can't even imagine being fused for as long as you guys have. Fusing with my dad for only thirty seconds felt really weird to me."

"You think I've been fused long? Garnet has been fused for like... 5000 years!" Stevonnie exclaimed.

"Whoa..." Lily said, starry eyed. She had only spoke to Garnet for a few minutes earlier that night before the fusion had said she had to "leave for an emergency."

Stevonnie and Lily's conversation was cut off by the sound of a crying baby on the other side of the house, followed by the sound of a teenager calling "mom-dad, Calvin is crying again!"

Stevonnie chuckled, "anyways, I have to go put the kids to bed. Have a good sleep." With that, the fusion briskly walked out of the room.

For the next five minutes, Lily heard some talking and, at one point, singing coming from across the house. She didn't remember exactly when she fell asleep, but all she remembered is that it was sometime after she heard Stevonnie walk up the stairs to the loft...

* * *

 _Lily opened her eyes and looked around herself, seeing that she was sitting on the couch in the beach house. Only... it was daytime out and the picture of Stevonnie's sixty or something children wasn't hanging in the kitchen. She quickly came to realization that she must've been dreaming._

 _Suddenly, the door opened and four people walked in: Steven, Connie, ...she think she recognized the gem as Pearl, and non-pink Stephanie._

 _"I think it's time we take it up a notch in training!" Pearl exclaimed, turning around and looking Stephanie in the eyes, "You have gotten so good at using your sword, Stephanie! You're pretty much just as good as your mother was at your age!"_

 _"Thanks ma'am!" Stephanie said, her cheeks turning red._

 _"Take it up a notch?" Steven asked, frowning, "didn't you take it up a notch last week? And the week before? Don't you think that we're maybe moving a... little too fast here? What if Steph gets hurt?"_

 _"Oh, hush, Steven; I'll only be adding a few more holo-Pearls for her to fight," Pearl said, taking Stephanie's hand and pulling her toward the warp pad._

 _"I don't know, Pearl," Connie chimed in, "maybe Steven's right; I think you may be moving just a tad too fast. It's not like we're in any rush to train her. I mean... Homeworld is dealt with and all of the corrupted gems have been healed; so what's there to really fight?"_

 _Pearl seemed to realize she was outnumbered, but she still pushed on: "Let's try my way once, and if it's overwhelming, then we can slow down a bit," she said. Steven and Connie looked at each other and nodded in agreement._

 _"Fine," Steven said before stepping onto the warp pad beside Connie, Pearl, and Stephanie. They all disappeared with a flash of light._

 _Before Lily could process what she was watching, she felt herself suddenly sitting in the stands of the Sky Arena; a place she had read about in her history books. From what had just happened, she had concluded that nobody seems to be able to see her in this dream; she was only here to observe. But... observe what? Also, this seemed too realistic to be a dream; so perhaps it was actually... a memory..._

 _Pearl, Steven, Connie, and Stephanie all walked down the stairs from the entrance of the arena, Steven and Connie taking seats right next to Lily._

 _"Okay," Pearl said, pointing to Stephanie, "weapon ready?" the gem asked._

 _Stephanie concentrated, a pink sword materializing in her left hand. "yes, ma'am."_

 _"Excellent! then let the training... commence!" Pearl shouted, her gem glowing and multiple blue, see-through Pearls materializing before her._

 _In almost no time, Stephanie was fighting almost twenty Pearls at once; stabbing one or two at a time, only to turn around to dodge an attack. It was mesmerizing to watch. It made Lily wonder if everyone in her family tree (including her) had such amazing sword fighting skills. Also... did Stephanie, her great great great great grandma of which she lives with, just materialize a pink sword out of thin air? How come she has never done that in front of her!?_

 _Lily's thoughts were cut off as she heard Pearl clapping loudly, signifying that Stephanie had defeated all of the holo-Pearls. "That was marvelous, Stephanie!" She shouted, then giving Steven and Connie an "I told you so" look. "So marvelous, in fact, that we're going to step it up **three notches!** "_

 _"What!?" Steven and Connie shouted simultaneously, startling Lily as they hopped out of their seats to stop Pearl. But it was too late; Pearl had already summoned another twenty holo-Pearls plus five more._

 _"Let the training... commence!" Pearl shouted with a grin, beaming with pride for her student._

 _Lily watched as Stephanie started to fight the new group of holo-Pearls. She was so amazed by the girl's-her great great great great grandma's-movements. If only Steven, Connie, and Pearl were, also, watching. They were too busy arguing about the safety of Stephanie that they weren't looking at what she was doing._

 _Suddenly, Stephanie lost her footing, tumbling to the ground. Her sword had slid out of her hand and fell over the side of the arena, leaving her both defenseless and offenseless. She laid there on her stomach, panting heavily as ten holo-Pearls started to surround her. Lily went wide-eyed at the sight, worrying that the vulnerable girl may end up getting hurt._

 _"Uh... guys!" Stephanie shouted, trying to alert her parents or instructor of her current situation. It fell to deaf ears though; as Connie was in the middle of shouting something at Pearl, Steven readying to do the same._

 _Lily tried to shout to Steven, Connie, and Pearl, but no noise came from her mouth. She, also, tried to get up and run to them to alert them, but her body physically could not get up from where she was sitting. "I really am only here to observe..." Lily thought... and so she did. All she could do was watch as a holo-Pearl got above Stephanie and pushed down her sword in one swift motion._

 _Lily winced hard as she heard the sharp sound of flesh meeting a blade. She felt tears come to her eyes, knowing exactly what the implications of the sound were. She opened her eyes slightly, and through her blurred, tear-filled vision, she could see crimson start to run down the stone of the ruins._

 _"Test failed," the holo-Pearl standing above Stephanie said in a flat voice, catching the attention of the three arguing adults._

 _Lily closed her eyes and covered her ears, trying her best to ignore the sounds of screaming and crying. Before she knew it..._

* * *

...she no longer could hear them.

Lily opened her eyes to find herself in the beach house; it being nearly pitch black due to it being nighttime still. She looked to her left, seeing the picture of Stevonnie's children hanging in the kitchen, one particular, pink person sticking out among everyone else on the photo. She figured out that she was no longer dreaming.

Everything was silent and still... except one thing: the quiet sound of weeping coming from the loft.

She took each stair slowly, the weeping growing slightly louder the higher she got, until she was finally standing before a sight that shocked her. Steven was crying into his hands while Connie, also crying, hugged him, rocked him back and forth, and sang something gently into his ear.

Connie took notice of Lily's presence, motioning her to come and sit on the bed with them.

"H-hey," Lily said, "I think I may have entered your dream or something somehow."

Connie nodded, then whispering something into Steven's ear. Steven, tears still flooding out of his eyes, looked up at Lily.

"S-sorry you had to see that..." Steven said as Connie wiped his eyes.

* * *

 _Stevonnie sat on their bed, head buried in their knees. They had been crying for the last few hours; but how could they not? Their first daughter was now a pink zombie and was going to have a screwed up future because of it!_

 _"Hey, uhm... Steven and C- Stevonnie! Uh... Connie's mom says that Stephanie is okay except for, well, being pink," Pearl said, holding papers that the hospital had given her._

 _Stephanie was standing beside her, completely silent. She hadn't said a word ever since she was brought back to life._

 _"Go..." Stevonnie said quietly from between their knees._

 _"What was that?" Pearl asked hesitantly._

 ** _"I said go! Never come back, for all I care! You got my fucking- you killed my daughter!"_**

 _Pearl was taken aback by Stevonnie's harsh language: she had never heard a swear come from Steven or Connie's mouths for the entire time that she had known them._

 _"I-" Pearl started, then looking at Stephanie beside her, who had a gigantic, light pink scar in the center of her forehead. "Alright," Pearl said through tears, "alright; you'll never see me again. I just... it was an a-accident, I-"_

 _Pearl started to shake, but before a single tear could leave her eyes, she ran down the stairs, past Amethyst and Garnet, and toward the warp pad._

 _"I am going to... leave now. Just know that... I'm very sorry," Pearl said through tear-filled eyes._

 _Amethyst and Garnet watched in shock as Pearl disappeared in a stream of light._

* * *

"Pearl kept to what she said: more than a hundred years later, and we still have never seen her since," Connie said.

"What about Amethyst?" Lily asked.

"She has spent the last hundred years looking for Pearl. She shows up here once every ten or so years, but usually only briefly," Connie responded, "We've asked Garnet about what happened to Pearl, and she always says the same thing: that we will never see her again."


End file.
